Mike Silver

Design Innovation Fellow 2010-2012

Co-Robotics and Construction: OSCR 1-4 Prototypes

Imagine a bustling construction site where robots do most of the tradesmen’s dirty work, so to speak—hauling materials, climbing ladders, and navigating scaffolding. As the Design Innovation Fellow at ball State and then as an Assistant Professor of Architecture at University at the University at Buffalo Michael Silver has been developing humanoid robots that interact with people in dynamic environments.

Though many researchers are in the race to develop construction robots, Silver, a self-taught roboticist, and his team are consulting with contractors, tradespeople, and trade unions to ensure their robots add value to the industry. Through these discussions, they have learned that construction workers are concerned robots will supplant them. As a result, Silver emphasizes that his research is in co-robotics—meaning that the machines work alongside people and not in isolation—and focuses on making people more productive and profitable.

Rust Belt Robotics GroupFuture operational scenarios for OSCR-4

In the past two years, Rust Belt Robotics has built three generations of small-scale, but increasingly complex, android prototypes coined On-Site Construction Robots (OSCR, pronounced “Oscar”). The first OSCR lifted a lightweight, 3D printed ABS-plastic brick, took a few steps, and then set the brick down in a precise spot. The second version lifted three ABS bricks and stepped up a 1-inch-tallriser. The third OSCR walked on four legsfor greater stability and strength, carried and deployed lightweight but standard-size bricks. It also navigated the group’s laboratory space and tracked other color-coded bricks using a video camera integrated into its carbon-fiber structure and software controls.

Now the team is building its fourth prototype—a bipedal robot that can use its hands to grip and stack waterjet-cut sandstone blocks. Enabled with Wi-Fi, this larger machine will combine the capabilities of the previous OSCRs with the ability to 3D scan a site and communicate information—such as field conditions and progress photographs taken by its video camera—back to the humans it is assisting.

Rust Belt Robotics GroupA pair of OSCR-2's working in tandem on one leg.

Silver says that he could increase the intelligence and functionality of the robots by programming them to transmit BIM data to and from the jobsite to team members—human or android. “I would like to pursue new ways of integrating robotics into the cloud,” he says. Rust Belt Robotics is now leading a three-year effort in conjunction with multiple parties to refine and deploy an OSCR to an actual jobsite.

Juror Steven Rainville applauded the group for diving into such a competitive research area that shows promise in altering the future of the construction industry. “This is really cool to me,” he said.